A device and method for applying a material to a surface of a fabric. The device has a sensor and a microfluidic die. The device further includes a reservoir for containing a material to be deposited, and a CPU. The method includes providing information from the sensor about the surface to the CPU, which uses the information to identify where the material is to be deposited and/or how much to deposit.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of depositing a composition on a surface of a fabric, the method comprising the steps of: identifying a surface of a fabric onto which a composition will be deposited; providing a device having a color sensor, a reservoir for the composition, a CPU, and at least one microfluidic die comprising at least one nozzle; locating the color sensor over at least a portion of the surface of the fabric; activating the color sensor to acquire a background L value for the surface of the fabric; providing the acquired information to the CPU; instructing the CPU to calculate a location of one or more deviations on the surface of the fabric by identifying a ΔLs value at the surface of the fabric of at least 0.5% of the background L; and activating the at least one nozzle to deposit the composition on the surface of the fabric at the location of the deviation.
2. The method of claim 1 , including the additional step of sensing the surface of the fabric after the composition has been deposited thereon.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fabric is selected from the group of: wovens, nonwovens, leather or other animal-based materials, microfibers, textiles, plastics, cotton, wool, synthetic fibers, and combinations of synthetic and natural fibers.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
December 14, 2015
December 18, 2018
Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.